September 10, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://news.yahoo.com/kerry-meet-lawmakers-migrant-crisis-abroad-072712030--politics.html

Officials: US to increase number of refugees by 5K next year
AP By MARY CLARE JALONICK and BRADLEY KLAPPER
September 9, 2015


WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is prepared to increase the number of refugees it resettles by at least 5,000 next year as European countries struggle to accommodate tens of thousands of refugees from the Middle East and Africa.

Related Stories:
1. McCain displays photo of dead Syrian boy on Senate floor Associated Press
2. US vows to help Europe, but will it take in more migrants? Associated Press
3. US mulling more help to stanch refugee crisis AFP
4. John Kerry: Administration Is 'Committed' To Taking In More Refugees Amid Syrian Crisis Huffington Post
5. Clinton: 'Global effort' needed to help refugees in Europe Associated Press

Two officials and a congressional aide said that Secretary of State John Kerry told members of Congress in a private meeting Wednesday that the United States will boost its worldwide quota for resettling refugees from 70,000 to 75,000 next year, and that number could rise. A fraction of those would be from Syria.

Kerry said after the meeting with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that the U.S. would increase the number of refugees it is willing to take in, but he did not give a specific number.

"We are looking hard at the number that we can specifically manage with respect to the crisis in Syria and Europe," he said. "That's being vetted fully right now."

The officials and the congressional aide spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the private meeting on the record.

Shortly after Kerry's meeting, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., went to the Senate floor to urge stronger leadership from President Barack Obama on stemming violence in the Middle East and North Africa.

He stood next to an enlarged, close-up photo of the dead body of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi, a Syrian boy who drowned along with his 5-year-old brother and mother when their small rubber boat capsized as it headed for Greece.

"This image has haunted the world," McCain said. "But what should haunt us even more than the horror unfolding before our eyes is the thought that the United States will continue to do nothing meaningful about it."

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Tuesday that the Obama administration has been looking at a "range of approaches" for assisting U.S. allies with 340,000 people freshly arrived from the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Many are fleeing parts of Iraq that are under the Islamic State group's control.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, Kerry's predecessor at the State Department, called for an "emergency global gathering" at the U.N. General Assembly meeting this month, where countries could pledge aid money and to accept some of the migrants.

Germany is bracing for some 800,000 asylum seekers this year. Throughout Syria's 4½-year civil war, the U.S. has accepted only about 1,500 Syrians — a tiny percentage of the 11.6 million people who have been chased out of the country or uprooted from their homes.

Beyond Syrians, the administration wants to increase the number of Africans coming to the United States next year, according to a senior U.S. official involved in the process.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, attended the meeting with Kerry and said he was concerned that the administration plans "opening the floodgates and using emergency authority to go above what they proposed to Congress in today's consultation."

Grassley urged wealthy Arab states to take in Syrian refugees. Some, like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have been criticized for not doing so.

Currently, the top three groups of people resettled by the U.S. are Burmese, Iraqis and Somalis.

After the fall of Saigon in 1975, the U.S. accepted more than a million refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. In more recent years the U.S. has taken in large numbers of Muslim Kosovar Albanians and refugees from Iraq.

But what those crises involved and Syria's may lack is a sense of U.S. responsibility. Refugee operations in Southeast Asia followed years of U.S. warfare there, as did the decision to take in tens of thousands of Iraqis over the last decade. Many Americans may feel differently about taking large numbers of Syrians displaced by a war that the United States has tried hard to avoid.

In addition, U.S. intelligence officials say they are concerned that the flow of migrants into Europe has been infiltrated by Islamic State group extremists who are bent on carrying out terror attacks.

"Exactly what's their background?" Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Wednesday during a conference. "We don't obviously put it past the likes of ISIL to infiltrate operatives among these refugees."

Asked if the Obama administration felt responsible to share Europe's refugee burden, Earnest stressed U.S. support thus far: $4 billion in humanitarian aid, more than any other country has provided, and diplomatic work to resolve Syria's conflict peacefully. The diplomacy appears nowhere near ending violence that started in 2011 with a government crackdown on political opponents, spawning an armed insurgency and eventually leading to Islamic State extremists seizing much of the country.

Associated Press writers Alicia A. Caldwell, Deb Riechmann, Lisa Lerer and Ken Dilanian contributed to this report.




“Two officials and a congressional aide said that Secretary of State John Kerry told members of Congress in a private meeting Wednesday that the United States will boost its worldwide quota for resettling refugees from 70,000 to 75,000 next year, and that number could rise. A fraction of those would be from Syria. …. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, Kerry's predecessor at the State Department, called for an "emergency global gathering" at the U.N. General Assembly meeting this month, where countries could pledge aid money and to accept some of the migrants. Germany is bracing for some 800,000 asylum seekers this year. Throughout Syria's 4½-year civil war, the U.S. has accepted only about 1,500 Syrians — a tiny percentage of the 11.6 million people who have been chased out of the country or uprooted from their homes. …. Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, attended the meeting with Kerry and said he was concerned that the administration plans "opening the floodgates and using emergency authority to go above what they proposed to Congress in today's consultation." Grassley urged wealthy Arab states to take in Syrian refugees. Some, like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have been criticized for not doing so. …. But what those crises involved and Syria's may lack is a sense of U.S. responsibility. Refugee operations in Southeast Asia followed years of U.S. warfare there, as did the decision to take in tens of thousands of Iraqis over the last decade. Many Americans may feel differently about taking large numbers of Syrians displaced by a war that the United States has tried hard to avoid.”

“In addition, U.S. intelligence officials say they are concerned that the flow of migrants into Europe has been infiltrated by Islamic State group extremists who are bent on carrying out terror attacks.” A situation like this one does disturb me. I was less nervous about the likelihood of ISIS terrorists coming over the Rio Grande border because I don’t have the impression that there are many of them in Mexico -- but Syria is not the only Middle Eastern country to have radical Islamists in large numbers in their population, and who may try to come here.

I agree with John McCain that we need to do more to stop the flow of people out of the Middle East, but we can’t go to war with all those countries. It would be interesting if we were to stop backing Israel to the hilt in their warlike role with Palestine and others. I understand that is one of the main causes of the extreme unrest across the whole region, and of the widespread hatred of the US as well. They see us as Israel’s main ally, and as a result their enemy.





STANDING ON THE STREET WHILE BLACK


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nypd-we-owe-ex-tennis-pro-james-blake-an-apology/

NYPD: We owe ex-tennis pro James Blake an apology
CBS/AP
September 10, 2015

42 Photos -- James Blake CBS NEWS
Play VIDEO -- James Blake mistakenly tackled, handcuffed by NYPD


NEW YORK - New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton says he's been trying to apologize to former tennis professional James Blake, who was handcuffed by officers after a case of mistaken identity.

Bratton said at a news conference Thursday that Blake hasn't responded to messages from the NYPD or New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. He says his department wants Blake to speak to its Internal Affairs division.

Blake says he was standing outside a Manhattan hotel Wednesday waiting to head to the U.S. Open when an officer charged him. He says he was body-slammed and handcuffed.

He told officers to check his identification, and he was released.

Blake said Thursday on ABC's "Good Morning America" that everyone should be held accountable for their actions, including police.

At the news conference, Bratton said the officer involved in the incident has been placed on modified assignment and has had his gun and badge removed while an investigation is completed. Bratton said investigators have not yet spoken with the officer involved or Blake.

Bratton said the decision to place the officer on modified duty was made after both he and the head of the internal affairs department reviewed videotape of the incident, which Bratton said indicated that the use of force exhibited by the officer may not have been appropriate.

The police commissioner also noted that the incident was not reported and that Bratton himself only learned of it after Blake spoke to the media.

Chief of Detectives Robert Boyst told reporters Thursday that Blake was mistakenly identified as a suspect in a credit card theft investigation.

Undercover officers were working to make arrests in the case at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan Wednesday when Blake was wrongly identified as one of the suspects and was taken down to the ground by an officer and handcuffed.

Boyst said the NYPD had an Instagram photo of a person who was believed to be a suspect in the case and that the photo bares [sic] a "remarkable likeness" to Blake.

"They look like twins," Boyst said.

Boyst said he could not show the photo to the media because it was later determined the person in the Instagram photo was innocent of all wrongdoing.




“Blake says he was standing outside a Manhattan hotel Wednesday waiting to head to the U.S. Open when an officer charged him. He says he was body-slammed and handcuffed. He told officers to check his identification, and he was released. Blake said Thursday on ABC's "Good Morning America" that everyone should be held accountable for their actions, including police. …. Bratton said the decision to place the officer on modified duty was made after both he and the head of the internal affairs department reviewed videotape of the incident, which Bratton said indicated that the use of force exhibited by the officer may not have been appropriate. The police commissioner also noted that the incident was not reported and that Bratton himself only learned of it after Blake spoke to the media. Chief of Detectives Robert Boyst told reporters Thursday that Blake was mistakenly identified as a suspect in a credit card theft investigation. …. Boyst said the NYPD had an Instagram photo of a person who was believed to be a suspect in the case and that the photo bares [sic] a "remarkable likeness" to Blake. "They look like twins," Boyst said. Boyst said he could not show the photo to the media because it was later determined the person in the Instagram photo was innocent of all wrongdoing.”

I wonder what means the police use in making their identifications. Several of these police abuse stories have involved mistaken identity. Not only did they unnecessarily hurt someone, they hurt the wrong man. In this case, had they tackled the one whose photo they were using, that too would have been an innocent man. They need to go slower when gathering their facts, and don’t go in like a bull charging at the matador. Approach in a normal way, show your badge for more 2 seconds, and ASK FOR THE ALLEGED SUSPECT'S IDENTIFICATION!





http://news.yahoo.com/judge-rules-republican-lawsuit-over-obamacare-move-forward-204737788.html

U.S. judge rules Republicans can pursue Obamacare lawsuit
Reuters By Lindsay Dunsmuir
September 9, 2015




WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. judge said on Wednesday congressional Republicans could move forward with parts of a lawsuit that alleges executive overreach by President Barack Obama's administration in implementing his signature healthcare law.

U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer, appointed by former President George W. Bush, a Republican, said the House of Representatives has standing to pursue claims that the secretaries of health and human services and of the Treasury violated the Constitution by spending funds Congress did not appropriate.

At the same time, Collyer determined they could not pursue claims that the Treasury secretary improperly amended the healthcare law, as those concerned only the implementation of a statute and not adherence to any congressional requirement.

Collyer did not rule on the merits of the claims, only on the administration's motion to dismiss the lawsuit on the issue of standing, a requirement in U.S. law whereby plaintiffs have to show they have been directly harmed.

On that issue, "the constitutional trespass alleged in this case would inflict a concrete, particular harm upon the House for which it has standing to seek redress in this court," Collyer wrote in her opinion.

The Department of Justice will appeal the court's ruling, said spokesman Patrick Rodenbush. An appeal could further delay proceedings on the merits of the claims.

White House spokeswoman Jennifer Friedman called the decision unprecedented.

"This case is just another partisan attack, this one, paid for by the taxpayers; and we believe the courts will ultimately dismiss it," she said in a statement.

House Republicans filed the lawsuit in November, saying administration officials overreached in authorizing Treasury payments to healthcare insurers and delaying the law's employer mandate.

In a statement, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, said the ruling showed the Obama administration's "historic overreach can be challenged by the coequal branch of government with the sole power to create or change the law."

The 2010 Affordable Care Act, the Democratic president's biggest domestic policy achievement was bolstered by a Supreme Court decision in June that upheld federal tax subsidies that helps millions of Americans afford coverage.

The case is United States House of Representatives v. Burwell et al, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, No 14-1967.

(Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Additional reporting by Nate Raymond, Lawrence Hurley and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Doina Chiacu, Mohammad Zargham and David Gregorio)




“A U.S. judge said on Wednesday congressional Republicans could move forward with parts of a lawsuit that alleges executive overreach by President Barack Obama's administration in implementing his signature healthcare law. U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer, appointed by former President George W. Bush, a Republican, said the House of Representatives has standing to pursue claims that the secretaries of health and human services and of the Treasury violated the Constitution by spending funds Congress did not appropriate. At the same time, Collyer determined they could not pursue claims that the Treasury secretary improperly amended the healthcare law, as those concerned only the implementation of a statute and not adherence to any congressional requirement. Collyer did not rule on the merits of the claims, only on the administration's motion to dismiss the lawsuit on the issue of standing, a requirement in U.S. law whereby plaintiffs have to show they have been directly harmed. …. The Department of Justice will appeal the court's ruling, said spokesman Patrick Rodenbush. An appeal could further delay proceedings on the merits of the claims. White House spokeswoman Jennifer Friedman called the decision unprecedented. "This case is just another partisan attack, this one, paid for by the taxpayers; and we believe the courts will ultimately dismiss it," she said in a statement. …. In a statement, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, said the ruling showed the Obama administration's "historic overreach can be challenged by the coequal branch of government with the sole power to create or change the law." The 2010 Affordable Care Act, the Democratic president's biggest domestic policy achievement was bolstered by a Supreme Court decision in June that upheld federal tax subsidies that helps millions of Americans afford coverage.”

“United States House of Representatives v. Burwell et al, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, No 14-1967” is presented, if anyone wants to read it, at http://pdfserver.amlaw.com/nlj/House%20v%20Burwell%20opinion.pdf. Personally I don’t know enough about law and legal writing to make my way through it, and I will simply follow stories on it when I find them. I agree with Jennifer Friedman that it is “another partisan attack,” though an interesting case to decide whether Congress can sue the President. I don’t think it has ever been done.





http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/new-species-in-human-lineage-is-found-in-a-south-african-cave/ar-AAe8sRT?li=AAa0dzB&ocid=iehp

New Species in Human Lineage Is Found in a South African Cave
The New York Times
By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD

© AP Photo/Themba Hadebe A reconstruction of Homo naledi presented during the announcement made in Magaliesburg, South Africa, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015.


Acting on a tip from spelunkers two years ago, scientists in South Africa discovered what the cavers had only dimly glimpsed through a crack in a limestone wall deep in the Rising Star cave: lots and lots of old bones.

The remains covered the earthen floor beyond the narrow opening. This was, the scientists concluded, a large, dark chamber for the dead of a previously unidentified species of the early human lineage — Homo naledi.

The new hominin species was announced on Thursday by an international team of more than 60 scientists led by Lee R. Berger, an American paleoanthropologist who is a professor of human evolution studies at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. The species name, H. naledi, refers to the cave where the bones lay undisturbed for so long; “naledi” means “star” in the local Sesotho language.

In two papers published this week in the open-access journal eLife, the researchers said that the more than 1,550 fossil elements documenting the discovery constituted the largest sample for any hominin species in a single African site, and one of the largest anywhere in the world. Further, the scientists said, that sample is probably a small fraction of the fossils yet to be recovered from the chamber. So far the team has recovered parts of at least 15 individuals.

“With almost every bone in the body represented multiple times, Homo naledi is already practically the best-known fossil member of our lineage,” Dr. Berger said.

Besides introducing a new member of the prehuman family, the discovery suggests that some early hominins intentionally deposited bodies of their dead in a remote and largely inaccessible cave chamber, a behavior previously considered limited to modern humans. Some of the scientists referred to the practice as a ritualized treatment of their dead, but by “ritual” they said they meant a deliberate and repeated practice, not necessarily a kind of religious rite.

“It’s very, very fascinating,” said Ian Tattersall, an authority on human evolution at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, who was not involved in the research. “No question there’s at least one new species here,” he added, “but there may be debate over the Homo designation, though the species is quite different from anything else we have seen.”

A colleague of Dr. Tattersall’s at the museum, Eric Delson, who also is a professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York, was also impressed, saying, “Berger does it again!”

Dr. Delson was referring to Dr. Berger’s previous headline discovery, published in 2010, also involving cave deposits at the Cradle of Humankind site, 30 miles northwest of Johannesburg. He found many fewer fossils that time, but enough to conclude he was looking at a new species, which he named Australopithecus sediba. Geologists said the individuals lived 1.78 million to 1.95 million years ago, when australopithecines and early species of Homo were contemporaries.

Researchers analyzing the H. naledi fossils have not yet nailed down their age, which is difficult to measure because of the muddled chamber sediments and the absence of other fauna remains nearby. Some of its primitive anatomy, like a brain no larger than an average orange, Dr. Berger said, indicated that the species evolved near or at the root of the Homo genus, meaning it must be in excess of 2.5 million to 2.8 million years old. Geologists think the cave is no older than three million years.

The field work and two years of analysis for Dr. Berger’s latest discovery were supported by the University of the Witwatersrand, the National Geographic Society and the South African Department of Science and Technology/National Research Foundation. In addition to the journal articles, the findings will be featured in the October issue of National Geographic Magazine and in a two-hour NOVA/National Geographic documentary to air Wednesday on PBS.

Scientists on the discovery team and those not involved in the research noted the mosaic of contrasting anatomical features, including more modern-looking jaws and teeth and feet, that warrant the hominin’s placement as a species in the genus Homo, not Australopithecus, the genus that includes the famous Lucy species that lived 3.2 million years ago. The hands of the newly discovered specimens reminded some scientists of the earliest previously identified specimens of Homo habilis, who were apparently among the first toolmakers.

At a news conference on Wednesday, John Hawks of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, a senior author of the paper describing the new species, said it was “unlike any other species seen before,” noting that a small skull with a brain one-third the size of modern human braincases was perched atop a very slender body. An average H. naledi was about five feet tall and weighed almost 100 pounds, he said.

Tracy Kivell of the University of Kent, in England, an associate of Dr. Berger’s team, was struck by H. naledi’s “extremely curved fingers, more curved than almost any other species of early hominin, which clearly demonstrates climbing capabilities.”

William Harcourt-Smith of Lehman College of the City University of New York, a researcher at the American Museum of Natural History, led the analysis of the feet of the new species, which he said are “virtually indistinguishable from those of modern humans.” These feet, combined with its long legs, suggest that H. naledi was well suited for upright long-distance walking, Dr. Harcourt-Smith said.

In an accompanying commentary in the journal, Chris Stringer, a paleoanthropologist at the Natural History Museum in London, found overall similarities between the new species and fossils from Dmanisi, in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, dated to about 1.8 million years ago. The Georgian specimens are usually assigned to an early variety of Homo erectus.




“Acting on a tip from spelunkers two years ago, scientists in South Africa discovered what the cavers had only dimly glimpsed through a crack in a limestone wall deep in the Rising Star cave: lots and lots of old bones. The remains covered the earthen floor beyond the narrow opening. This was, the scientists concluded, a large, dark chamber for the dead of a previously unidentified species of the early human lineage — Homo naledi. …. 60 scientists led by Lee R. Berger, an American paleoanthropologist who is a professor of human evolution studies at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg …. In two papers published this week in the open-access journal eLife, the researchers said that the more than 1,550 fossil elements documenting the discovery constituted the largest sample for any hominin species in a single African site, and one of the largest anywhere in the world. Further, the scientists said, that sample is probably a small fraction of the fossils yet to be recovered from the chamber. So far the team has recovered parts of at least 15 individuals. …. Besides introducing a new member of the prehuman family, the discovery suggests that some early hominins intentionally deposited bodies of their dead in a remote and largely inaccessible cave chamber, a behavior previously considered limited to modern humans. Some of the scientists referred to the practice as a ritualized treatment of their dead, but by “ritual” they said they meant a deliberate and repeated practice, not necessarily a kind of religious rite. …. “No question there’s at least one new species here,” he added, “but there may be debate over the Homo designation, though the species is quite different from anything else we have seen.” A colleague of Dr. Tattersall’s at the museum, Eric Delson, who also is a professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York, was also impressed, saying, “Berger does it again!” …. Dr. Delson was referring to Dr. Berger’s previous headline discovery, published in 2010, also involving cave deposits at the Cradle of Humankind site, 30 miles northwest of Johannesburg. He found many fewer fossils that time, but enough to conclude he was looking at a new species, which he named Australopithecus sediba. Geologists said the individuals lived 1.78 million to 1.95 million years ago, when australopithecines and early species of Homo were contemporaries. …. because of the muddled chamber sediments and the absence of other fauna remains nearby. Some of its primitive anatomy, like a brain no larger than an average orange, Dr. Berger said, indicated that the species evolved near or at the root of the Homo genus, meaning it must be in excess of 2.5 million to 2.8 million years old. Geologists think the cave is no older than three million years. …. In addition to the journal articles, the findings will be featured in the October issue of National Geographic Magazine and in a two-hour NOVA/National Geographic documentary to air Wednesday on PBS. Scientists on the discovery team and those not involved in the research noted the mosaic of contrasting anatomical features, including more modern-looking jaws and teeth and feet, that warrant the hominin’s placement as a species in the genus Homo, not Australopithecus …. led the analysis of the feet of the new species, which he said are “virtually indistinguishable from those of modern humans.” These feet, combined with its long legs, suggest that H. naledi was well suited for upright long-distance walking, Dr. Harcourt-Smith said. …. , found overall similarities between the new species and fossils from Dmanisi, in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, dated to about 1.8 million years ago. The Georgian specimens are usually assigned to an early variety of Homo erectus.

This article is stirring up lots of thoughts for me. It is thought that Lucy the Australopithecus walked on two feet because her footprints appeared closely beside those of a friend or lover as they walked through some freshly fallen volcanic ash (the placement of the footprints made a scholar suggest that they may literally have been holding hands!) That’s two ways in which they are probably on a path toward becoming modern humans. Now this new group used a burial chamber in a cave to contain their dead. Neanderthals also in at least one case apparently buried a group member, with lots of pollen grains which the scientist thought may have meant handfuls of flowers were buried with the body. That is more than just finding a sanitary way to contain a dead body. It is a sign of love and possibly ancestor worship or the belief in an afterlife.

Another interesting thing is the presence of a number of Homo and pre-hominin species in South Africa, because a number of years ago I read about another early group found in a cave there. Modern apes are found in jungle regions from Asia to Africa, these very early humans have been found as far south as South Africa and one group up in Russian Georgia especially in savannah regions; Neanderthals were found in caves in the Middle East, Israel I think, and other Neanderthals across Europe over to the Spain and Portugal region. China had Peking Man, and an early species called Denisovans which are thought to have bred with early Homo Sapiens, according to DNA comparisons, when he moved up into Europe and was found in a cave in Siberia. DNA trackers have identified Denisovan and Neanderthal genes in the DNA of modern humans, so it is no longer believed that Neanderthals were a different species. In fact probably several of those groups could successfully interbreed, which means they are the same species even if they do look somewhat different, unless scientists have dropped that requirement for classifying animals as being in the same species.

I think “hominin” species must have been commonplace and very widespread around the globe, possibly interbreeding frequently, and if they were as aggressive as modern humans and lots of the apes and monkeys of today are, they may have been carving out a big piece of the pie worldwide even before Neanderthal. Maybe they bedeviled the cave lion by chasing him off in a big noisy group and stealing his kill. Homo erectus, according to the evidence is the first found to have used fire, according to Wikipedia. Our ancestors were pretty darned intelligent all down the line, actually. They managed to manipulate their environment, which even intelligent species like the elephant can’t do. Of course they also had the ever so useful “opposable thumb” to aid them in making and manipulating things. They not only could pick up a rock to crack a nut, as I saw a chimpanzee do on a Jane Goodall film, they could grip two rocks tightly and whack them together to produce nice sharp edges to saw chunks of meat off the cave lion’s antelope.

Intelligence is only half the picture. Living in fairly large groups, cooperating in hunting, walking over large distances to find food and water, taming the environment by “capturing fire” from some lightning strike and then learning to keep it going by adding wood – all that together is a cluster of characteristics which almost certainly would put them in power over animals without those advantages, and here we are on the point of causing half the planetary species to go extinct. Heaven help us to use our intelligence again to try to preserve our earth.





http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/hungarian-camerawoman-faces-criminal-charges-for-kicking-refugees/ar-AAe9dmo?li=AAa0dzB&ocid=iehp

Hungarian camerawoman faces criminal charges for kicking refugees
AFP September 10, 2015

Photograph -- Hundreds of refugees broke through a police line at a collection point near the Serbian border on September 9, 2015© Provided by AFP


Hungarian prosecutors said Thursday they had opened a criminal investigation for breach of peace against a camerawoman caught on film as she tripped and kicked migrants who were fleeing border police.

In the footage, which sparked global outrage, Petra Laszlo can be seen tripping up a man sprinting with a child in his arms, and kicking another running child near the town of Roszke, close to the border with Serbia.

It later emerged that Laszlo, who was fired over her actions, had been working for N1TV, an Internet-based television station close to Hungary's far-right Jobbik party.

Two small opposition parties filed a criminal complaint against Laszlo shortly after the video began circulating on social media Tuesday.

"In the course of the investigation, the authorities will also examine if more serious crimes... can be established," said Sandor Toro, the deputy chief prosecutor of Csongrad county.

A "Wall of Shame" page on Facebook featuring pictures, videos and commentaries linked to the incident involving Laszlo had gathered more than 30,000 likes by Thursday. "You are a disgrace to your profession," one user wrote.

The incident occurred as hundreds of migrants broke through a police line at a collection point close to the Serbian border where thousands have been crossing each day for the past month.

"These are shocking images. You're part of a news agency. With your hand you're shooting and with your leg you're hurting someone else," said Aniko Bakonyi of human rights group Hungarian Helsinki Committee.

The video showed Laszlo was "only kicking foreigners, no-one else, including a child who was clearly an asylum-seeker", Bakonyi added.

"Since she's been working as a cameraperson there, she clearly knew who she was kicking. It wasn't by accident, there is no mistake in that."

Laszlo herself has not yet reacted publicly to the storm.




“Hungarian prosecutors said Thursday they had opened a criminal investigation for breach of peace against a camerawoman caught on film as she tripped and kicked migrants who were fleeing border police. In the footage, which sparked global outrage, Petra Laszlo can be seen tripping up a man sprinting with a child in his arms, and kicking another running child near the town of Roszke, close to the border with Serbia. It later emerged that Laszlo, who was fired over her actions, had been working for N1TV, an Internet-based television station close to Hungary's far-right Jobbik party. …. "In the course of the investigation, the authorities will also examine if more serious crimes... can be established," said Sandor Toro, the deputy chief prosecutor of Csongrad county. A "Wall of Shame" page on Facebook featuring pictures, videos and commentaries linked to the incident involving Laszlo had gathered more than 30,000 likes by Thursday. …. The video showed Laszlo was "only kicking foreigners, no-one else, including a child who was clearly an asylum-seeker", Bakonyi added. "Since she's been working as a cameraperson there, she clearly knew who she was kicking. It wasn't by accident, there is no mistake in that."

“Laszlo herself has not yet reacted publicly to the storm.” People rarely expect their actions to be caught on camera doing bad things. That’s why we have so many videos of police officers abusing their authority. It is significant, I think, that her news agency is linked to Hungary’s “far-right Jobbik party.” When I hear the term “far right” I read it as meaning greedy, unkind, aggressive and lacking in most “gentle” characteristics. I would like to change that viewpoint, but I keep seeing it proven over and over. Another news article this week said that the immigrants had been treated badly in Hungary. This is, therefore, not surprising. See below for Jobbik.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jobbik

Jobbik
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jobbik, the Movement for a Better Hungary (Hungarian: Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom), commonly known as Jobbik (pronounced [ˈjobːik]), is a Hungarian radical nationalist[7][8] political party. The party describes itself as "a principled, conservative and radically patriotic Christian party", whose "fundamental purpose" was the protection of "Hungarian values and interests."[17] Jobbik describes itself as rejecting "global capitalism",[18][19] European integration[20] and Zionism.[21][22] Instead it adheres to Pan-Turanism, an ideology that asserts that Hungarians originate from the Ural–Altaic race.[23][24] The movement is described by some scholars and media outlets as "fascist",[25] "neo-fascist",[26] "Neo-Nazi",[27] extremist,[28] racist,[29] antisemitic,[30][31] antiziganist,[32] and homophobic,[33] although the party rejects these claims.[34] After the Hungarian parliamentary elections on 6 April 2014, the party polled 1,020,476 votes, securing 20.54% of the total, making them Hungary's third largest party in the National Assembly.

Platform and ideology[edit]

The party describes itself as "a principled, conservative and radically patriotic Christian party", whose "fundamental purpose" is the protection of "Hungarian values and interests".[17] Jobbik's ideology has been described by political scholars as right-wing populist, whose strategy "relies on a combination of ethno-nationalism with anti-elitist populist rhetoric and a radical critique of existing political institutions".[35][36]

For its part, Jobbik rejects the common classification of the political spectrum in left and right. It prefers a distinction of political parties based on their stance towards globalisation. On this scheme, the party sees itself as patriotic.[37] The party also rejects the term 'far-right', and instead labels itself as 'radical right-wing'. It has also criticised media companies for labelling them as 'far-right' and has threatened to take action towards those who do.[38] In 2014, the Supreme Court of Hungary ruled that Jobbik cannot be labeled "far-right" in any domestic radio or television transmissions, as this would constitute an opinion because Jobbik has refuted the 'far-right' label.[39]

Economy[edit]

Jobbik rejects globalised capitalism, and the influence of foreign investors in Hungary.[40] Jobbik specifically opposes Israeli and Jewish investment in Hungary. On 4 May 2013, protesting the World Jewish Congress's choice to locate their 2013 congress in Budapest, party chairman Gabor Vona said, "The Israeli conquerors, these investors, should look for another country in the world for themselves because Hungary is not for sale."[41]

Public order[edit]

Jobbik officially maintains that it rejects violence and supports democracy.[42][43][44] The party argues that the national police should be greatly strengthened and, along with the Fidesz, supports introducing a "three strikes law".[45] However, Jobbik's connections to the now-banned Magyar Gárda militia have raised concerns about the party's commitment to ensuring peace and order within Hungarian society, even within the party.

Radical nationalism and irredentism[edit]

Hungarian losses of territory in the Treaty of Trianon, which Jobbik seeks to reverse.
Jobbik's Hungarian irredentism can be found in pleas for cross-border ethnic self-determination. For example, the party demands "territorial autonomy" for the Székely Land in Romania and desires to make Carpathian Ruthenia an independent Hungarian district.[46] Jobbik frequently calls for a return to pre-Treaty of Trianon borders in political rhetoric.[47]

A quarter of ethnic Hungarians live outside the country.[48] Jobbik dedicates itself to supporting the cause of the significant Hungarian minorities residing in adjoining countries.[49]

The meaning of the party's 2009 election slogan "Hungary belongs to the Hungarians" (Magyarország a Magyaroké!) was also the subject of considerable scrutiny. Some critics thought the slogan essentially tautological,[50] while others were sufficiently concerned to mount a successful complaint at the National Electoral Commission, which ruled it "unconstitutional" on the very eve of the election.[51]

On 11 March 2014, in response to a demonstration in Târgu Mureș, the Romanian president Traian Băsescu publicly asked the Romanian Government and the Romanian Parliament to issue a document to ban Jobbik members from Romania.[52]